Gas turbine engines, such as those that power modern commercial and military aircraft, may include a fan section to propel the aircraft, a compressor section to pressurize a supply of air from the fan section, a combustor section to burn fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases and to generate thrust.
The compressor section and turbine section each have multiple stages of rotors that rotate about a central axis and multiple stages of stators that are stationary relative to the central axis. It is desirable to reduce fluid leakage between the stages of rotors and stators. Bellows seals, also referred to as “w-seals,” are frequently used to reduce fluid leakage between the stages of rotors and stators.
Bellows seals may include a first ply and a second ply adjacent to the first ply. It may be desirable to reduce the likelihood of the first ply separating from the second ply during use of the bellows seals. Stated differently, it may be desirable to reduce the likelihood of the first ply moving relative to the second ply at a location away from an area of intentional slip (also referred to as a slip joint). Furthermore, the bellows seals may be manufactured at a facility remote from where the gas turbine engine will be assembled.